Why did God create us?

Photo illustration by Matthew Reier

It is important to understand that God did not “create” us in the sense of causing us to come into being out of nothing. Some basic part of us existed even before our spirit birth: “Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be” (D&C 93:29). Because we know this, we also know that Heavenly Father’s motivation in creating us was not random or arbitrary but deeply purposeful. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught, “God himself, finding he was in the midst of spirits and glory, because he was more intelligent, saw proper to institute laws whereby the rest could have a privilege to advance like himself” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith [2007], 210; see also Moses 1:39). Because Heavenly Father wanted us to have the chance to progress and become like Him, He created our spirits, and He provided a plan of salvation and happiness that necessarily includes this earthly experience. Perhaps, then, the simplest and best answer to this question is also the answer to why God does just about anything: because He loves us.